This thread cropped up on OGMW about cursed items for D&D. I wracked my brain for some of the more interesting cursed items we've used in game. Now I have an idea for a "cursed item game," where the protagonists have to fight a "monster of the week," but their only hope of success is using a vast array of cursed items, all of which are deadly useful but have horrible and traumatic curses.
Quote- A gun that never misses and kills instantly, but the shooter experiences the pain and trauma of dying along with the victim.
- A cursed hammer (an ordinary claw hammer) that sets the person or thing hit with it on fire and instantly destroys corporal supernatural creatures. Once taken up, the hammer cannot easily be set down, and whenever the wielder of the hammer closes her eyes she sees and feels the fires of hell, making sleep and rest of any kind impossible. The hammer can only be relinquished and sent back to hell with the shedding of mortal blood.
- A hoodoo "blessed" sewing needle that when used to pierce the cornea allows the pierced to temporarily see spirits and other invisible creatures.
- A cast iron bathtub that is a gateway to the astral plane. The user needs to be drowned (and then, hopefully, revived later) in the tub to activate the magic.
- A magical elixir that makes the imbiber temporarily invulnerable via rapid regeneration. The regenerating tissue, however, will grow right over any foreign objects (like bullets) still inside the body, and the user looses all sensation in their body (pain, taste, smell, touch, sexual sensation, etc.). This side effect lasts for weeks after the elixir wears off and the more the elixir is taken, the more likely the side effect is to be permanent.
So, hit me with your best cursed items!